Labour’s leadership must make a big call on whether to adopt a graduate tax policy to fund English universities, with other options including a more cautious pledge to hold a funding review if the party wins the next election, according to policy experts.
Opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves are expected to drop the party’s existing pledge to scrap tuition fees and fund universities through direct public spending – Labour’s signature policy under former leader Jeremy Corbyn – as part of a drive to “sound more fiscally responsible”, according to a recent report in the Financial Times.
